Etymology Probably from Middle English *roven, a Midlands variant of Northern Middle English raven (“to wander”), from Old Norse ráfa (“to rove; stray about”). Cognate with Icelandic ráfa (“to wander”), Scots rave (“to wander; stray; roam”).
And thou […] that with thy cruell dart / At that good knight so cunningly didst roue […]1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto III”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
2
To roam, or wander about at random, especially over a wide area.
Now that he was in his prime, there was no simian in all the mighty forest through which he roved that dared contest his right to rule, nor did the other and larger animals molest him.1912 October, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “Tarzan of the Apes”, in The All-Story, New York, N.Y.: Frank A. Munsey Co., →OCLC; republished as chapter 1, in Tarzan of the Apes, New York, N.Y.: A[lbert] L[evi] Burt Company, June 1914, →OCLC:
And a rovin’, a rovin’, a rovin’ I'll go / For a pair of brown eyes1985, Shane MacGowan, “A Pair of Brown Eyes”, in Rum Sodomy & the Lash, performed by The Pogues:
3
To roam or wander through.
Roving the field, I chanced / A goodly tree far distant to behold.1667, John Milton, “Book VIII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
The rein-deer, which in Scandinavia can scarcely exist to the south of the sixty-fifth parallel, descends, in consequence of the greater coldness of the climate, to the fiftieth degree, in Chinese Tartary, and often roves into a country of more southern latitude than any part of England.1832, Charles Lyell, chapter VI, in Principles of Geology: Being an Attempt to Explain the Former Changes of the Earth's Surface, by Reference to Causes Now in Operation, volume II, London: John Murray, →OCLC, page 94:
4
To card wool or other fibres.
Although both [flax and wool] must be roved and spun upon similar principles, each requires peculiar modifications in its machinery.1835, Andrew Ure, The Philosophy of Manufacturers:
5
To twist slightly; to bring together, as slivers of wool or cotton, and twist slightly before spinning.
6
To draw through an eye or aperture.
7
To plough into ridges by turning the earth of two furrows together.
8
To practice robbery on the seas; to voyage about on the seas as a pirate.
pirates, roving up and downe the sea1589, Richard Hakluyt, The Principall Navigations, Voiages, and Discoveries of the English Nation, […], London: […] George Bishop and Ralph Newberie, deputies to Christopher Barker, […], →OCLC:
Etymology Probably from Middle English *roven, a Midlands variant of Northern Middle English raven (“to wander”), from Old Norse ráfa (“to rove; stray about”). Cognate with Icelandic ráfa (“to wander”), Scots rave (“to wander; stray; roam”).
1
A copper washer upon which the end of a nail is clinched in boatbuilding.
2
A roll or sliver of wool or cotton drawn out and lightly twisted, preparatory to further processing; a roving.
3
The act of wandering; a ramble.
In thy nocturnal rove one moment halt.1745, [Edward Young], “Night the Ninth and Last. The Consolation. Containing, among Other Things, I. A Moral Survey of the Nocturnal Heavens. II. A Night-Address to the Deity. […]”, in The Complaint: Or, Night-Thoughts on Life, Death, & Immortality, London: […] [Samuel Richardson] for A[ndrew] Millar […], and R[obert] Dodsley […], published 1750, →OCLC, page 318: